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July 11, 2008

Social networking hits iPhone/iPod

Today marks the official launch of the iPhone Apps Store. However, many attentive bloggers noticed that the Apps Store was live yesterday, and it was possible to download the latest version of iTunes and version 2.0 of the iPhone firmware. This translated to a fun day of checking out the latest and greatest applications. And what did BoardBuzz notice first? There are over 25 social networking applications available.

We've been postulating that wireless/mobile devices are getting set to make a dramatic leap to catch up with Web 2.0 realities. The first iteration of the iPhone made other Smartphones look, well, less smart. Now with the introduction of third-party developer applications, the power of the 3G iPhone is starting to show. Where other phone manufacturers have stagnated, Apple has innovated. You may see phones with matching or higher specifications than the iPhone, but none have software remotely equivalent and appealing to consumers.

And then we come to Google. Google's Android could potentially change the entire field. They essentially want to achieve what Apple (with help) has just done: make the Web 2.0 internet mobile. One Google spokesperson said that Android's goal is to give “iPhone type capabilities to the masses at a cost that everyone can afford.” If we combine this platform with the possibility that their white spaces venture succeeds, it's a whole new ballgame. Wired's Epicenter is reporting that the FCC is testing white spaces devices next week.

But let's get back to the new iPhone Apps. Just about anything is available from games to innovative GPS-enabled social networking applications. It's a blast. There's even a Sketches application that we can't wait to try out during a boring meeting... we mean, in our free time. Below are some popular social Apps.

SmugShot
This is from SmugMug, a popular photo-sharing site. SmugShot adds photos you take directly to your SmugMug galleries and geotags them at the same time.

Midomi
A song recognition App that actually works. Sing, hum, or whistle to instantly find your favorite music and connect with a community that shares your musical interests. It's truly amazing!

Twitterific
Twitterrific is a fun application that lets you both read and publish posts or "tweets" to the Twitter community website. It works just like the desktop version and also geotags your tweets.

Facebook
Just what you'd expect. You can search your friends, Facebook chat, view messages and notices, and interact just like you would from your computer.

MySpace Mobile
This is the official MySpace App, and it does just what you think it would. As Gizmodo said
"addicts who have an iPhone will undoubtedly be thrilled."

Whrrl
Whrrl is a location-based social utility. Go to your current location and you can see markers signifying restaurants, stores, museums, etc. Click on them to see reviews, write reviews, or place markers. Once you connect up with a few friends in Whrrl, you'll notice that places they have visited, reviewed, or expressed an interest in will "light up" on the map.

Mobile Flickr
Full-featured Flickr app, you can browse your photos by sets, tags, and more.

There are some 500 apps available in the store, and about 25% of them are free. Oh, and if you only have an iPod Touch, don't worry. Most Apps are available for you as well. Happy Friday!

Posted at 11:12 AM | Education Technology | Miscellany | Link to this story | Comments (0)

July 10, 2008

How low can it go?

The story below about gas prices might have something to do with this, but a new poll places Congress's job approval at (this is not a typo) 9 percent. Nine. We have to work with Congress so we don't plan to dwell on that figure too long but felt it our duty to make note of it. So we have.

Just one more point. Considering its single-digit approval rating, we'd think Congress ought to be more open to hearing what its constituents want and how it might raise those approval numbers. For school board members and public school supporters, NSBA's Advocacy office has a few suggestions. It's all part of our summer Advocacy Action Plan. Take a look, take action and urge your members of Congress to deliver for your students and taxpayers.

Posted at 5:04 PM | Advocacy & Legislation | Link to this story | Comments (0)

Up, up and away

Unless fuel prices take an unexpected turn toward the good old days of $3 a gallon gas (remember we thought that was expensive?), school districts, like households and businesses, will continue facing tough budget choices. Stories abound of districts looking into all manner of strategies to save on the rising cost of fuel and the residual effects on other expenses, like food.

USA TODAY is just the latest media outlet to examine what districts are doing. BoardBuzz has covered this before as well.

No district appears to be immune to the skyrocketing costs. In Mississippi, there's even talk of starting school later to avoid higher electric bills in the brutal heat of August. What's your district doing to cope? Use our comment feature to share ideas with your colleagues across the country.

Posted at 4:25 PM | School Boards | School Finance | Link to this story | Comments (0)

Teaching to the Test: Not Such a Bad Thing, Sometimes

The phrase 'teaching to the test' usually brings shivers up the spines of most teachers, but to one English teacher there is a test she doesn't mind teaching to. Her name is Erica Jacobs and she writes in the DC Examiner why she loves teaching to the Advanced Placement (AP) Literature test. Her reasoning-- the test is designed to give teachers the freedom to use the texts they love as long as students are exposed to writing in each of the last four centuries. This enables Ms. Jacobs and other AP teachers to focus more on teaching their students to examine how an author writes effectively, instead of regurgitating facts from a book.

These analytical skills are what students need now. Unfortunately, too many tests today don't focus on analytical and problem solving skills. This makes 'teaching to the test' such a bad thing for so many teachers. However, if Congress provided more funds to states to develop better tests like the AP Literature test, then maybe teachers would be happy to teach to the test and our students would be better off for it.

July 9, 2008

The role of teachers

It's not what you think. This isn't about teachers as mentors, authority figures, or pillars of the community. It's an entirely different role teachers are taking that's grabbed BoardBuzz's attention today. This article that came to us via the Kansas City Star talks about some teachers' involvement in their local theater community.

It seems that the local theater company puts on theater in the park each year. This year's selection, The King and I, is particularly fitting for the teachers who're working on the production. The role of Anna will be played by music teacher Sarah Brinkley. She says, "In many of the scenes, I see her as myself."

In addition to Brinkley, the play stars other teachers and will be directed by a teacher too!

Director Jill Jones said that throughout rehearsals the cast members, including about 45 area children, have become like a family.

“They all get along so well and they are supportive of each other,” she said.

It’s Jones’ first year to direct the Theatre in the Park. She performed in one of the productions last year with her daughter and loved the atmosphere.

“It was exciting to get involved last year and I had a blast doing Cinderella,” she said. “It’s just really fun.”

She’s enjoyed the chance to step into the director’s shoes this summer — something she already has plenty of experience with as a theater teacher at North Kansas City High School.

But unlike the high school productions she usually directs during the school year, Gladstone’s Theatre in the Park gives her the opportunity to work with a wide range of ages.

“I like working with the adults and the younger kids as well,” she said.

The Theatre in the Park is a collaboration between the city of Gladstone, Ibsen Dance Theatre and the Northstar Community Band and has been a tradition in the community for more than two decades.

Sounds like great fun to us! Do you know of teachers who are finding interesting ways to spend the summer? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

Posted at 11:14 AM | Miscellany | Teachers | Link to this story | Comments (0)

Virtual physical education

BoardBuzz never was a big fan of gym class -- dodgeball ain't for everyone. So this story from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review caught our attention.

It seems that some schools are offering virtual physical education classes. Now, we know what you're thinking—physical education over the internet seems counterintuative. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh teens are enrolling in online gym classes. The story goes on to say:

Students study sports and fitness, but are expected to put what they learn into practice. Physical activity is completed on an honor system, said Rich Campsie, who teaches physical education at e-Cademy and at Pennsylvania Learners Online, also called PALO, a cyber charter school operated by the intermediate unit.
This year, about 600 students are enrolled at PALO, where online gym is a requirement, and 12 others are enrolled at e-Cademy to make up a failed credit.

The program promotes fitness and leisure activities rather than competitive sports. And it seems this approach is becoming more common in actual physical education classes. With almost three-fifths of American households owning a personal computer, keeping students active and away from their computer is a challenge. Mark Gartner, a middle school health and physical education teacher in the Hampton Township School District, focuses his classes more on lifestyle and leisure rather than team sports as a way to ingrain fitness into young minds.

That approach is becoming the norm. "Gym classes for years have been trying to get away from the old concept of rolling a ball and playing dodgeball," says Donald Teti, assistant superintendent for high schools with the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. "Physical fitness has gone into the area of yoga and dance and away from the idea of dodgeball and competitive sports."

Perhaps virtual phys. ed. is just the next progression in trying to ingrain fitness and active lifestyles into our youth. On a related note, eSchool News recently covered the "New P.E." coming to schools in the form of video games. This "exergaming" encourages students to use video games such as Nintendo's new Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution to exercise. Kids who would normally show no interest in sports find this kind of exercise appealing.

Wii Fit is intended to combine fun and exercise. The Wii Balance Board is an innovative peripheral that can read your real-life movements and bring them to life on screen. Just like the Wii Remote it's intended to get the user off the couch and active. Wii Fit covers a number of activities such as yoga, strength training, balance games, and aerobics.

BoardBuzz is intrigued by these new trends in physical education. And, no, we're not sad to see dodgeball go the way of the dodo.

July 8, 2008

The Norfolk 17

Everyone knows about the Little Rock Nine who walked across racial lines to go to school. The landmark case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka re-shaped education in the south and the Little Rock Nine had to have military protection to go to school safely. They received a lot of press, movies were made, books were written, and awards were named after them. But unless you live in Virginia (or to be more specific, southern Virginia), can you honestly say you've heard of the Norfolk 17? We, at BoardBuzz picked up on this item from the AP yesterday.

A little history first--rather than follow the Federal Law, Viginia decided to close schools to avoid accepting black students in the late 1950s. The movement was called "Massive Resistance" - unlike Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Passive Resistance," the goal was not unity. In a city like Norfolk, private academies opened for white students only. Black students were left out, and had to find schools elsewhere, but were turned away every time they tried to enter a school. After the Supreme Court of Virginia got involved and overturned the Massive Resistance laws, 17 students attended schools that were all white. They were greeted with insults, racist comments, and mob mentality. We can only imagine what they had to go through to get an education.

Over the weekend, the surviving members (10 of the 14 surviving members attended) got together to honor the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking actions and courage. Every Independence Day we honor our country and reflect on the great nation we have grown into over the last 232 years. But there are times when we are reminded of how far we've come in just the last 50 years, and how far we still need to go. NSBA's mission is, "excellence and equity in public education through school board leadership." While we work to reach this goal, we also need to recognize those who broke ground in the past, yet are often forgotten.

July 7, 2008

Students design future aircraft

Sixty-one students from 14 colleges and universities around the globe have imagined what the next generation of airliners and cargo planes might look like.

Fourteen teams and two individual students submitted their designs in the annual competition sponsored by NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, part of the agency's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

The highest scoring graduate team was from Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Undergraduate team honors went to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.

The contest asked students to create a future subsonic transport aircraft that could carry up to 50,000 pounds, operate on runways between 1,500 and 3,000 feet long, and cruise at speeds between 595 and 625 mph - about the average speed of airliners today. The competition also stressed that concept planes should use alternative fuels and be quieter and more environmentally friendly than today's commercial fleet.

As part of the competition, six U.S. students received a 10-week paid summer internship at one of four NASA research centers around the country. Non-U.S. student winners received an engraved trophy and certificate.

Sponsors are already planning next year's competition, which will be announced by the end of this summer.

A complete list of winners of the college contest can be found at: http://aero.larc.nasa.gov.

Posted at 3:38 PM | Education Technology | Students | Link to this story | Comments (0)